Wrong-way driver causes Highway 63 crash

Related Story

BOONE COUNTY - A wrong-way driver caused another driver to swerve off the road and end up in the median on northbound Highway 63 Saturday near the Columbia Regional Airport exit.

Sgt. Matt Broniec of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said while no one was injured in the collision, it could have been a lot worse had the other driver not been able to get out of the way.

Broniec said troopers caught up with the wrong-way driver near New Salem Lane north of Ashland. He said the driver appeared to be a confused elderly man.

A witness described the scary situation.

"I told my son 'this guy is going the wrong way, you need to move over...move over real fast!'" said Grace Sinclair, who was traveling north on Highway 63 from Branson. "The next thing, we come up on this accident, and we come over to help."

Sinclair said she and other drivers swerved to avoid the wrong-way driver as he made his way down Highway 63 in a red Ford truck.

"He kept going down really really fast down the wrong way and everybody's just moving over really fast and trying to get out of his way," Sinclair said. She said other drivers were "honking and trying to get his attention but he kept on going."